We just keep doing what we do
by everykingdombh
Summary: When "one hell of a day" turns into "one hell of week" how will the team cope. When it comes to aliens, there's no one better than torchwood, but when it comes to family and love is there anyone more toxic than torchwood? set somewhere in season two. Rubbish summary and not sure where I'm taking this yet so please read and suggest ideas/ reviews
1. Clear skies, really?

They were wandering the cold damp back streets of Cardiff; strolling down the alleys behind the clubs full of unknowing drunk horny twenty something's about to stumble out into the night which was more dangerous and magical than they could ever imagine.

They followed the blue dot on the handheld tracking device, the wind flapping restlessly at the bottom of captain jack's army coat, next to him Gwen zipped up her black leather jacket all the way up to her chin trying to keep some heat in as the rain began to spit down, and then pour.

Jack reached to his ear and bought his ear piece to life with the touch of a button.

"Tosh, Tosh?" Jack said with his American twang.

"Jack, according to my reading you should be reaching the unknown anomaly after the next right turn. Whatever it is, it appears to be stationary. I will see if I can get a visual through the CCTV network but cameras are limited around these alleys" Tosh replied in her usual been-working-too-much tone.

Gwen's glossy black hair whipped around her face, fighting between the wind and rain, she stopped in her tracks as jack carried on walking. He turned to look at her and backed up and stared at her furrowed brows.

"What is it?" he asked.

She held her hair out of her face and faced the rain, looking at the thick black clouds against the even blacker night sky.

"Clear skies, it was supposed to be clear."

"Yeah it's raining get over it" he shouted at her over the now rolling thunder.

Gwen scoffed at him and tapped her ear piece.

"Tosh, I need you to check weather patterns for me, and have you got a visual on whatever this alien signal is"

"Well that's strange, it's clear summer skies, except within about 10 meters in either direction of... you. No no not you, the alien signal.

"HA! I told you!" Gwen giggled at him.

"Oh please, you told me it was raining" Jack laughed back at her.

The sound of thunder was getting so loud it was like someone was firing tanks next to their heads, Gwen covered her hands with her ears and screeched as lightening began to strike all around in strange formations, striking down into puddles of rain water collecting in the badly paved alley and started conducting electricity.

"We have to stop this; it's getting out of control." Gwen shouted. "Tosh, any idea what it is yet?"

Then came the sound of buzzing and metal screeching, Gwen and Jack ripped the coms out of their ears.

"Well I guess we're going in blind" stated jack ominously.

Gwen held her gun out, and edged round the corner slowly and silently, not that it was possibly to hear over the thunder.

Jack stared at her, his back to the opposite wall, as she edged into the alley you swiftly moved to stand behind an overflowing bin she crouched and signalled for Jack.

They walked down the narrow path side by side, exchanging glances.

A tall slender thing came into view, it had a oval shaped head that was about twice the size of a normal human head, it was wearing a velvety white cloak which billowed in the wind and revealed the creature to be floating about two feet off the ground. The alien appeared to be meditating. In front of a triangular rotating pool of light being fed by beams of what seemed to be storm energy.

Gwen let out a gasp and everything stopped. The rain, the thunder, the lightening. Everything was silent.

The creature scurried behind a stack of old cardboard boxes and the pool of light disappeared.

"We're not going to harm you, don't be afraid" Jack said softly.

He holstered his gun and put his hand gently over Gwen's and pushed it down. The creature stuck its head around the corner to peak out tentatively, revealing a large set of oval eyes, with a smaller second pair above them, they blinked individually. It had no nose to speak of but rather a serious of wrinkles set in the centre of its face. A pair of very thin non shapely lips parted to reveal evil looking tusks.

Jack watched Gwen with a hard intensity as she took several steps forward and crouched down, she smiled at the alien. It was a real, warm and comforting smile full of compassion. She stuck out her hand and reached for the alien, but not in a cruel way, she didn't invade the things personal space, just inviting it out.

"It's ok. We can help you" she said.

The alien smiled and stepped out from behind its hiding place, it smiled at Gwen and waved its large, three clawed hand at her, beckoning her to stand. It pulled her into an embrace, making Jack lunge closer ready to help her but she embraced the alien back, and to Jack surprise started to weep.

He realised why when the alien hugged him too, it gave off this energy, this extremely sad, panicked and hopeless energy. Like being alone in the dark, with no one, nothingness.

"Ple...plea...please. Hel...p. Please help" it whimpered.


	2. Calm before the storm

Owen stared at the alien. How was he supposed to give it the "once over" if he didn't even know where to start.

Gwen came in carrying a polystyrene cup, Owen had his hand out ready to accept the strong coffee but Gwen walked straight past and handed the cup to the alien.

"Your cold, here this will warm you up," she said handing him/it the cup

"Tha...thank. Yo..ouu" it husked at her.

Gwen smiled. She looked up from the autopsy room/ medical bay to see Tosh and Jack talking intensely and saw Jack making some weird hand gestures.

Owen elbowed Gwen out of the way harmlessly.

"Excuse me, trying to uh conduct a check up here, and thanks for the coffee your about to go and make me, I have a feeling it going to be a long night." Owen said to Gwen.

"Sorry Gwen coffees are my job" Ianto said as he bound down the steps in a black tailored suit with a red shirt, carrying two chipped white mugs that had never really been washed properly.

"Ah damn it, I was really looking forward to pumping shots out of the machine" she giggled while he handed her a regular cup with the bit of extra milk froth she loved so much.

Owen downed his cup in one gulp, and then proceeded to stick his tongue out and haul in cold air.

"coffees tend to be hot Owen, that's why we drink them slowly, ya know I used to have a boyfriend that used to drink hot drinks like that, I heard he burnt one of his tongues so badly he had to have it removed, but then he was from the centurian galaxy and they always were a little sensitive," Jack just casually blurted out as he and Tosh entered the room.

That sent giggles and smirks throughout the room.

"So who are you, and why are you here?" Jack asked flat out loosing the jolly tone from his voice.

The rest of the team were a little surprised and so was the alien.

"I...I am forgnak, from the planet of naktwine."

"We have no record of that, in our archives." Tosh said tapping away at her tablet.

"I am afraid you will not. It is a many light years away and through the nebuline cluster. I was travelling through the cluster collecting nova energy, left over from dead stars, we need it to stop our planets core from overheating." Forgnak paused and looked deeply saddened and lost.

"And then what" Gwen asked like a school child, wide eyed and wondering. Completely fascinated, she looked at Owen, Ianto, Tosh, they were all infatuated too, even jack who had seen more than she could imagine was listening with such intensity.

"Then I found myself here, alone. My people we need each other, we are all connected without them I feel as I am incomplete and hollow. We look frightening with our tusk and claws but we really are peaceful and cannot live without each other, I fear I will pass on soon, from pain of my loss."

"You must have come through the rift; Jesus how far into space does this go?" Owen asked, he really wanted to know but he knew nobody could give him any kind of answer.

"But what about the storm then?" Ianto questioned.

Forgnak sighed and wiped away a blue liquid escaping from one of his eyeballs, a tear. "My ship requires cosmic energy, I had to generate some, and so I created a storm, it has to be a powerful storm because they can only create small amounts of cosmic energy. I'm afraid I do not have enough energy to get home. I do not wish to die alone, although you are here being kind. I do feel truly and utterly alone"

Silence fell among the team, melancholy descended upon them. For once they had found an alien who was good, who had nothing hidden. Forgnak and his race were kind, compassionate and peaceful, for once the team didn't have to deal with the shitty weevils or the murdering aliens and here he was, the good one alone and dying and they couldn't get him back to his family.

"OH MY GOD. Come on people, have you really given up hope that quickly, I clearly haven't trained you well enough." Leaning over the railing that ran around the edge of the room Jack gawked at them, amazed and saddened at how quickly they could give up and throw in the towel.

"THE RIFT" Gwen shouted, making everybody jump.

"The rift is essentially a channel through space and time, of course, it would channel cosmic energy in such a high degree and velocity, and we could easily power a ship of it." Tosh hurriedly said.

Forgnak smiled "I can get home."

"Of course we couldn't just let you die." Jack said cheerfully. "Ianto, rift key, power it up. Owen make sure Forgnak is ok to fly, if not whatever he needs, give it to him. Tosh, clear the air, get everything out of the way, we dont want people asking questions and alert London there will be a surge in rift activity and not to panic. Gwen, stay with Forgnak, compose a message to his people and get the co-ordinates for naktwine, and Forgnak i need your ship...Come on people, move, move, move" jack shouted, everybody went rushing about their jobs, Tosh tapping away, Owen and Gwen with Forgnak, Ianto and Jack channelling the rift energy through into Fornak ship

Gwen and Owen helped Forgnak over to his ship in the centre of the hub.

It was a pool of purple white light floating a few centimetres off the ground, it was no bigger than a dinner plate. He was weak now, they had to move fast, once he was standing over the pool of light, it grew vertically around him, like a protective tube, magically keeping him safe.

"I shall never forget you torchwood" he nearly sang it he was so please.

And then he was gone. Vanishing through the roof of the hub into space and then back home.

Jack put his arm round Ianto, then Gwen and smile at Owen and Tosh and breathed a sigh of relief.

There were no words for what had occurred, just happiness, peace and calm.

The calm before the storm, as they would soon find out.


	3. Now What?

Gwen closed the door to her flat with a click; she cringed at the sound hoping it didn't wake Rhys. She padded softly down the darkened hall, trying not to suspect the worst from the shadows, she refused to be scared in her own home but after all she saw everyday, who could really blame her?

She flicked on the light and almost had heartache when she saw Rhys sitting on the sofa. Completely still, face forward, Gwen could see the anger set in his furrowed brow.

"Rhys it's three in the morning, why are you awake, sitting in dark" she nervously said to him.

"THREE IN THE BLOODY MORNING GWEN!" he half shouted half spat at her as he shot up from sitting position.

"You know I get home late sometimes" she said moving to stand closer to him.

"I KNOW THATS WHAT BLOODY HAPPENS WITH TORCHWOOD, BUT NOT TODAY GWEN, NOT TONIGHT!" he was so angry.

Gwen's eyes scanned the room, avoiding his eyes, she couldn't bare to see him this upset and furious. Her eyes fell upon the table, scattered with roses, candles burnt down to a waxy mess, cold food clumping together on their best china.

oh. OH.

"OOOh Rhys, I'm so sorry, I just had a crazy day, and then Jack needed my help and i..."

"BASTARD TORCHWOOD, Jack always need your bloody help, it's always a crazy day!" Rhys lost it. She'd never seen him this angry before. "I've seen the way he looks at, and the way you look at him."

"Oh don't be ridiculous, I love you Rhys, you, and besides he's gay... I think" she said pleadingly, she hated it when Rhys was this pissed at her.

"Stop making excuses Gwen" he paused, took an exasperated sigh and said quietly "Get out".

"What? Rhys please, I really am sorry" she said as tears began pricking at her eyes.

"I don't want you near me right now, and I'm not leaving, so just piss off" he mumbled at her, he didn't like hurting her but when he was feeling this shitty, she could suffer a little.

"It's three in the morning, where will I go?" she said fighting through her tears.

"Piss off back to torchwood" he said, flicking the television into life.

She stood there completely dumfounded.

Packing a bag in a hurry and grabbing her keys, she was out the door in ten minutes. As soon as she was gone, Rhys instantly regretted what he'd said but he couldn't go after her, she had to realise that he was serious. He wasn't going to go running to her and apologise like he always did, she had to learn he wasn't going to wait for her.

Gwen drove to the 24/7 Tesco's and pumped her car full. She didn't know where she was going but she knew she just wanted to drive for a while.

Tosh, unlocked her flat, carefully hung her bag up on the third hook in from the right, in-between her rain coat and her summer coat.

Sighing she walked into her neatly organised kitchen, and flipped the switch on the kettle. The placed a calming herbal tea bag into her favourite cup, it had been a gift from Owen.

She looked at the clock, one thirty, she'd finished up her rift data after the alien had left and then come home.

She stirred her tea, got into her pyjamas and settled on the sofa with a book about quantum physics.

She marked her page, walked back into the kitchen and washed up her mug. She was so tired and yet she still couldn't switch off, her brain was still going at about a hundred miles an hour. The team knew she was smart, they thought it was easy being smart, but it wasn't. You would always notice things others didn't always having to know more or figure something out that was totally pointless but for some reason you still had to know.

She was rambling internally and it was driving her crazy. Owen was right she definitely needed to lighten up but she just didn't know how.

She picked up her phone and scrolled through her contacts, she hit the bottom of the list in about two seconds because she only had seven people in her contacts list and four of them where her work colleges.

"Hi, uh, Owen, I was just wondering if you wanted to, umm, Do you fancy a drink?"

"Tosh, everywhere is going to close in about half an hour" he replied frowning down the phone.

"Oh ok never mind, it was a stupid idea, you know it was just a hard day and sorry" she rambled embarrassed.

"Well hang on, I didn't say no, just that everywhere would be closed, you hungry I'm pretty sure I've got some pizza in the freezer? I mean I know it's not exactly a fancy..."

"That would be great" Tosh said with a huge grin across her face.

"Ok see you in about half an hour then" Owen said, and then he hung up.

Tosh couldn't believe it, it's what she'd wanted, mindless chat, crappy pizza and a few bottles of beer, she changed back into her work clothes, except a new cleaner shirt grabbed her keys and shut the door with a smile on her face... And she didn't even turn off her lights.

Owen looked at his the state of his place and panicked.

It was a total and utter pig sty. HOLY CRAP and it smelt like B.O.

He ran around and opened the windows and pumped the open plan living, kitchen dinner full of "summer scents frebreeze" and then realised he had over done it.

He picked up his dirty clothes that were strewn all around and threw them in the washing machine.

Grabbing a bin bag he missile launched every old bit of food, lads mags and old beer bottles into it.

He looked around and admired his work, he had never seen his place looking so tidy or smelling so great. Then he looked in the mirror and realised he didn't look so hot, or smell so hot for that matter.

By the time he'd changed and sprayed himself down there was a light knocking on the door, he pelted down his stairs and answered it a little too forcefully.

Ianto and Jack sat in the hub on the old ratty sofa that desperately needed replacing and eat Chinese in silence, occasionally swapping the chow mien for some beef in oyster sauce, with Jack grunting in thanks.

Ianto sighed, stood up and threw away his empty chilli sauce pot.

"Why am I still here Jack?" Ianto asked desperately needing to here Jack say, "because I want you to be" or "So we can spend some time together" but Ianto knew he wouldn't.

"I don't know, did you just fancy my Chinese?" Jack laughed, covering up what he truly felt, if he feels anything for me at all Ianto thought.

Jack always put up that wall, the wall that stopped people getting close, stopped Ianto from getting close.

Ianto wouldn't even care if Jack talked about other men, women or aliens he used to shag, or loved or whatever, just anything was better than the half conversations they had whenever they were alone. It was at time like this Ianto really missed Lisa and then he began to resent the team for what they had done. No. He couldn't think like that it would drive him insane.

He could never really tell if anyone on the team, ever thought about him as a true friend. He was recognised and appreciated but it wasn't the same as being a friend or being needed. He loved being a friend to them, he just sometimes felt like he wasn't seen as a friend. Would any of them ever come to him in their time of need? Could he go to them if he was in trouble?

"Sorry Jack, umm I can't stay all night here, then all day tomorrow as well, besides I've got to feed my cat." Ianto blabbed

"You have a cat?" Jack said surprised "It's ok, I get it, I have to stay, you don't, go get some rest Ianto, and hey good work today"

"Thank you sir."

Ianto pulled into his street and frowned at the car in his spot. He parked on the opposite side of the street, and stopped in the middle of the road, when he saw a dishevelled Gwen crying her eyes out slumped on his doorstep.

"I'm sorry Ianto, I..." she couldn't finish her sentence because he had pulled her into a hug, Gwen was like his sister.

He guessed he was wrong, they did need him, or at least Gwen did. He was last person she would've come to he thought, well he was wrong about that too.

"Come, let's get inside, you look like you need a hot bath and comfy bed" he smiled at her as she leaned on him as he unlocked the door.


	4. Eight o clock in the morning

Tosh was first through the door; as always, well apart from jack but did he ever really leave? She hung her jacket up, sat down at her desk and booted up her computer. She was tired; it had been a very late night, or a very early morning depending on how you looked at it. She had had a great time at Owens, there was no pressure, just fun and she needed it badly. She began keying in the new algorithm for the rift, she was trying to figure out if there was a way to shape the rift into something like a door that they could close and open without the world ending. It was a long shot and a bit of a challenge but she enjoyed being challenged.

Jack came into the Hub; he just sort of appeared sometimes.

"Coffee" he asked her.

"You are going to make the coffee?" she scoffed at him, jack never made the coffee. Ever.

"No, don't be ridiculous, Ianto's on his way down" he giggled with her.

And just like that Ianto and Gwen came through the cog door and Ianto made a b-line for the espresso machine.

"Morning sir." He shouted over the now steamy buzz coming from the industrial strength coffee brewer.

"Ianto." Jack said in reply.

Gwen dropped her bag and hung her coat up next to jacks, letting her hand gently brush it as she passed. She needed to talk to him, for him to comfort her but she couldn't go to him. She couldn't do that to Rhys.

She sat at her station and sipped her freshly brewed coffee, and smiled at Ianto in thanks.

He'd been great to her and she couldn't thank him enough. She didn't know why he had been so nice but she really appreciated him.

"Hey Gwen, you ok?" Jack asked staring at the back of her head as he stood behind her.

He could always tell when something was wrong with her, she'd fake smile and say she was fine but he could see straight through her.

"Yeah I'm fine." She huffed.

"Ok well if you need to talk you know where my office is." He said as he touched her shoulder in comfort and then strode away to his office.

Owen was the last to arrive as always, he walked up the steps smiled at Tosh and walked straight into Jacks office.

"Jack I would like to extract some materials from the Alien morgue and run some tests." He said confidently, feeling as if Tosh's braininess had rubbed off on him, he'd had an epiphany after she'd left.

"What kind of materials." Jack asked a little concerned.

"The restricted, classified, never to be extracted kind." He said knowing it would get Jack interested.

"Ok, but on three conditions. First of all you tell me what you're aiming to do and I want a full list of materials. Secondly I want a full report at the end of each day, however long this takes whatever it is your doing I want to know every last detail, because if this thing goes south I want to have crossed all our T's and dotted all of our I's. Thirdly I want a full BIOHAZARD system in place, talk to Ianto he will sort you out." Jack rambled out.

"Done. Done. And done" Owen said and left the office to talk to Ianto.

"Jack! JACK!" Tosh yelled, surprising herself, she had never shouted at anyone before.

"Tosh, what it is?" Jack said running out of his office to stand behind her.

She pointed at a blue flashing dot on her screening moving through the streets of Cardiff.

"That is a weevil" she said flicking the dot.

"What? But its eight o clock in the morning" Gwen said joining them.

"Weevils are nocturnal aren't they" asked Ianto as he and Owen came to stare at the screen.

They all just stood there amazed, staring at the screen, amazed at this phenomenon.

"Tosh bring up the CCTV in Janet's cell" he said hoping he wasn't going to see what he was about to.

Janet was sitting on the floor howling and crying in the way they did when something was wrong.

"Ianto SUV now!" Jack said as he started barking the usual orders at them.

Within 5 minutes, Owen, Gwen and Jack were loading their guns and hanging on for dear life and Ianto sped down the streets following Tosh's directions.


	5. Tearing flesh

Ianto pulled into the abandoned multi storey car park, swerving to a stop and then, speeding up the circular ramp to the top storey.

"Do you have a visual? According to this you should be right on top of it." Tosh said through the coms.

"No, I can't see anything, Owen, Jack, Ianto?" Said Gwen

"No uh, just car park as far as I can see." Said a puzzled Owen.

"Ianto, back down, now, go!" Shouted jack as he caught sight of the weevil running around a couple of floors down.

By the time they had caught up with it they were back on the ground floor. They all jumped out of the SUV and ran towards it with their guns out. Of course they didn't plan to shoot it and they all had their weevil spray (One of Owens inventions) and then slowed down as if they were approaching a wild animal that was extremely volatile.

"OK, everybody slow, calm." Jack said as if they hadn't dealt with a hundred weevils before.

Gwen stepped forward took one of her hands off the heavy standard issue fire arm, and held it up in an "its ok, calm down" motion.

She holstered her gun and reached for her tube of weevil spray.

Just as she reached out to spray, the weevil lunged for grabbed her and dragged her backwards and sunk its fangs into her shoulder.

She cried out in pain as the weevil continued to rip her flesh, and jack opened fire at the weevil, narrowly missing Gwen's head.

Blood poured from the gaping wound on Gwen shoulder as she and the weevil fell forward.

It was still trying to grapple at her leg and she gripped her shoulder and shuffled herself backward frantically.

Ianto put his hands under Gwen's arms and pulled her up to standing. She was panicking with blood pouring out and down, Ianto turned her round, put his arm round her waste and pressed his hand to her wound to try and stop some of the bleeding.

Then she went limp, passing out from the pain

Jack and Owen had bundled the dead weevil into the back of the SUV.

"JACK! Owen" Ianto shouted frantically as he held Gwen's limp body in his arms.

Jack lifted Gwen out of Ianto's arms and he and Owen got her into the back of the SUV.

Ianto got in and put the car in gear, rushing back to save Gwen's life.

Jack came running in carry Gwen's body, he lay it carefully down in the autopsy room.

Owen threw an oxygen tank and mask at Jack in a hurry to get Gwen breathing. He clicked on the heartbeat monitor, and a slow, a little too slow, beep beep beep began.

Tosh came in with hot water and clean towels and hurried to place them down next to Owen, who had peeled back the blood sodden t-shirt.

Then he noticed something other than blood, it was a sticky black liquid, thick and gooey.

"Um Jack, I need you to get me the alien bio- scanner that we scavenged it's in the vault." He said whilst digging around in the deep wound trying to see how deep this black liquid went. "JACK NOW!" He shouted, as Jack let go of Gwen's hand and ran up the steps.

"Ianto, she passed out, she isn't knocked out which means she could come round anytime, I need you to stay here and hold her still in case she wakes up."

Ianto sprang into action and leaned over her body. Tosh was shaking, she was never really good with blood, but this was insane, Gwen looked dead, pale and lifeless.

Jack came back with the Bio-scanner, and he handed it to Owen. Who extracted a large clump of the black liquid and placed it on the scanner. It beeped into life.

"Have we ever seen the weevils do that before?" Tosh said as she pointed to whatever was on the scanner.

Nobody said anything, because she already knew the answer.

The scanner identified the substance as some kind of poison, a mixture of unknown substances, Owen began to make up some kind of anti-dote from alien samples, not really sure what he was doing, while Ianto held Gwen still and Jack kept pressure on her wound, it was still leaking thick blood.

Gwen's temperature was rising, she was sweating and her stomach started spasming.

She started fitting. Ianto and Jack had trouble holding her still and Tosh had to hold her legs down.

"OWEN, COME ON!" Jack shouted.

"Jack if I get this wrong it will just kill her quicker! Just give me a minute to think" Owen said, he didn't do well under this kind of pressure.

"We don't have a minute Owen!" said Tosh, as Gwen opened her eyes and removed the oxygen mask with her free hand, about to say something when, thick black liquid began leaking from her eyes and her mouth and her nose.

"Its drowning her from the inside." Said Owen as he stabbed her in the leg with the antidote, he hoped.

Gwen coughed and sputtered, and started panicking and the liquid disintegrated.

"Gwen its ok, it's ok calm down." Jack said as he continued to pin her down.

"Ok, now I think that now the poison is gone, or something umm, I need to look at your wound, it's too big for me to stitch without you bleeding out so I'm going to have to cauterize the wound." Owen said in his usual doctor tone.

"YOU WHAT?" Jack asked

"Why, what is it, what's he going to do!" An even more panicked Gwen now asked.

"I just have to burn around the wound to stop the bleeding then I can stitch you up, and I'm really sorry but there's no time to put you under or give you an anaesthetic". He said as he began heating up a medical instrument of some sort.

"Jack, Ianto, Tosh hold her still. Gwen I'm really sorry about this."

Jack squeezed her hand and looked away; he couldn't bare to see her in the amount of pain she was going to be in.

"AAAAAAAAHHH" she screamed and writhed as the stench of burning flesh filled the autopsy room.


	6. As much time as you need

Gwen awoke with a major throbbing pain in her shoulder, she felt dazed and confused, not sure if she had just had a really vivid nightmare, or whether that had all happened. She looked around to see that she was laying on a medical gurney in the autopsy room, with a drip line coming out of her arms and about ten blankets bundled on top of her.

She sat up way to fast and was hit with a wave a head rush that made her lay back down again. She kicked some of the blankets back as a wave of heat brushed over her skin.

"Jack? Owen?" her voice was hoarse and her throat stung like a bitch. She sat up, more slowly this time and stepped carefully off the gurney, lost her balance and fell to her knees, heaving in air. Her hand began a steady trickle of blood as she realised she'd pulled her drip line out of her vein.

She grabbed one of the blankets and pressed it the wound.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN ATTACKED? WHERE IS SHE? I WANT TO SEE HER!" Rhys yelled at them.

They were all sitting in the conference room round the big wood polished table, except Rhys, he was standing, red faced and seriously pissed off.

Jack had decided to call him after Owen told him Gwen would be fine with a little luck and some rest, He had a right to know after all. As much as jack wanted to sit with her until she woke up, he knew what it would mean, it would be too hard to see the look on her face, the smile she always gave him and then have to watch her go home with Rhys.

"When she wakes up, you can see her but until then you need to calm down, and let her rest" Said Jack in his best authority voice, putting an end to that conversation.

Ianto came in carrying a tray of coffee, handed them out and sat down in the empty seat next to Jack. Tosh and Owen were looking over a mass of papers on the table, trying to find a correlation in Gwen's medical readings and any past weevil attacks while aiming to discover their little mystery substance.

A little device on the table started beeping and Jack pushed a button and the autopsy room CCTV appeared on the flat screen mounted on the wall.

It showed Gwen, a very wobbly Gwen trying to get off the gurney.

Owen stood up, followed by Jack then Rhys.

"Stay still, just relax alright." Said Owen as he did the usual check up, pupils dilating, pulse rate, and blood pressure. Gwen's eyes kept flicking towards the raised platform than ran around the room, from a stern faced Jack to a panic stricken Rhys. She smiled at them both reassuringly.

"I have to show you how to change your dressing now, it's not going to be very pleasant and if you want everyone else to leave that's fine", said Owen as he squeezed her hand.

"Can Rhys stay; I might need help with it later." Gwen said, still a little shaken but trying to hide it. Rhys looked shocked, and then came down the steps. She had picked him to help, not Jack, he came and stood by her and pulled her into a hug.

"still...a..bit sore Rhys." She said

"Oh, right sorry." He smiled apologetically.

Owen showed them what to do and packed them a kit full of dressings and antibacterial injections handed the bag to Rhys and helped Gwen off the gurney.

She told Rhys she wouldn't be long and half walked half hobbled into Jacks office.

He looked sad and lonely and she wanted to hug him but she wouldn't allow herself too.

"Owen said you wanted to speak to me." She spoke quietly.

"Yes, obviously you can have some time off, as much as you need." He said to her. "I'm glad you're ok Gwen. Don't ever scare me like that again"

She smiled at him, left his office and walked over to Rhys. She let him help her down the steps, even though she was strong enough to do it herself and together they walked out of the door.


End file.
